Looking for your next televised obsession? You've come to the right place. I've always loved recommending my favorite shows to anyone willing to listen (or just in the wrong place at the wrong time). Television shows are my lifeblood, the essence of my existence. In high school everyone knew, or should have known, what they were getting into when they asked me my opinion about that week's episode of "Breaking Bad." I know my shows, kids. I can rant for hours on the cultural brilliance of "Futurama" or on my detestation for the last episode of "How I Met Your Mother," and there is nothing in this world I want more than to be paid to yell about my favorite characters. This is the next best thing.
Disclaimer: Some of these shows are finished, some are new and ongoing. Watch at your own risk but I strongly suggest you give them all a chance.
1. "Parks and Recreation" (2009-2015).
A sitcom with heart and honestly dynamic characters, I can guarantee that once you start, you'll be hooked. Amy Poehler kills as Leslie Knope, an ambitious and radically optimistic low-level government employee with a golden team of smart, hilarious coworkers. Seven seasons may seem like a bit of a commitment, but you deserve to treat yo self. Trust me, it's worth it. Go watch, you beautiful, talented, brilliant, powerful musk ox.
Platform: Netflix and Hulu.
2. "Broad City" (2014-present).
If you're a fan of strong, hilarious women, profanity and comedy, this is the show for you. The show is created, partially written and performed by the brilliant Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer as a sort of "up yours" to the comedy company they belonged to. They were tired of following the rules and never being picked for performances, so they created their own opportunity. The show began as a web series and has since flourished into a hit on Comedy Central. It follows the lives of their characters, also named Abbi and Ilana, who are post-college students trying to navigate the adult world. Often they have other comediennes guest star, such as their executive producer Amy Poehler (who actually created the company they left!), Aidy Bryant from "SNL," and Amy Sedaris from "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt."
Platform: Hulu.
3. "How To Get Away with Murder" (2014-present).
A dark show with many twists and turns, "How To Get Away With Murder"'s 15-episode first season will keep you on your toes. It combines everyone's favorite things: drama, murder and hot lawyers. It also happens to have Matt McGorry from "Orange Is The New Black," Alfred Enoch from "Harry Potter" (Dean Thomas) and Liza Weil from "Gilmore Girls" (Paris Butler.) Not to mention Viola Davis and her biceps star as Annalise "Sit your a** down" Keating. Now you don't have any excuses not to watch.
Platform: Netflix and Hulu.
4. "30 Rock" (2006-2013).
From Tina Fey's extraordinary brain came this masterpiece of a television series. It's a mix of satirical and surreal humor with eccentric characters and one very relatable central character played by Tina herself. Liz Lemon is constantly cleaning up after her problematic actors while she struggles to keep her television sketch series on the air and her head on her shoulders. Only on "30 Rock" will you find a scene with fart jokes immediately transition to political slams in 10 seconds flat.
Platform: Netflix.
5. "Switched at Birth" (2011-present).
This is my latest discovery. The story follows the unity of two families who discover their daughters were accidentally switched at the hospital. One is deaf and the other is hearing. It utilizes subtitles and sign language, as well as spoken dialogue. Some scenes are even filmed completely in ASL. If you have even the slightest interest in deaf culture and you like a good drama, I strongly recommend checking this out. The topics covered are identity, perception of disability, growing pains, trust, death, change, and (of course) love.
Platform: Netflix.
6. "Bob's Burgers" (2011-present).
Platform: Hulu and Netflix.
7. "Hemlock Grove" (2013-2015).
"Hemlock Grove" is one of my favorite series of all time. It is a very dark, royally messed up story with many unexpected twists and turns. Every detail from the script to the lighting to the wardrobe to the soundtrack is carefully and deliberately coordinated to cultivate a powerfully artistic show. The plot is extremely intricate as well, a web of plots threaded together and slowly unraveled. It is a three-season show that ties up all loose ends by the last frame.
Platform: Netflix original series.
8. "Orange Is the New Black" (2013-present).
If you've got time (haha) definitely try this popular Netflix Original Series.
But seriously, I only have two words for you: Character. Development.
Platform: Netflix Original Series.
9. "Inside Amy Schumer" (2013-present).
Amy Schumer is seriously funny. Her half-hour show mixes material from interviews, scripted sketches and stand-up performances, primarily focused on comedy pertaining to gender roles and sexuality. She is a face of new-age comedy for women. Topics previously considered taboo are discussed and pushed to the point where sometimes it's uncomfortable to watch. However, a great deal of her material is thought-provoking and hilarious.
Platform: Hulu.
10. "The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" (2015-present).
Not so much a cult comedy as a comedy about cult.
Kimmy Schmidt is an overgrown child taking on the adult world after being rescued from the bunker she had been living in with a doomsday cult for the past 15 years. Now she is learning how to be the adult she resembles on the outside. Things, of course, aren't going quite as planned. But she's making the best of it.
Platform: Netflix Original Series.
